What's interesting is that the train was going only 12 mph when it hit the barrier -- about a fast jogging pace. Imagine how much worse it would have been if the train was going 25 mph. Or even 45 mph.

Wow- that's awful. I have a friend who just arrived in Argentina yesterday. I thought she was in BA, but fortunately it was Mendoza.

Schoy: trains aren't really designed to be crashed, other than having a heavy engine that can plow through animals, cars, etc. If they hit an immovable object, a tremendous amount of energy has to be dissipated.

Schoy: trains aren't really designed to be crashed, other than having a heavy engine that can plow through animals, cars, etc. If they hit an immovable object, a tremendous amount of energy has to be dissipated.

Yes, I understand that. But it's still interesting. I would wager that if you asked a casual person off the street how fast the train was going when it wrecked, causing almost 600 casualties (dozens of fatalities), that person would give an answer significantly greater than 12 mph.

I thought those were the details of the last bad Argentinian train crash...? Or did this one play out exactly as the old one did? I thought this new crash was just the train not stopping before hitting a wall or something.

Yes, I understand that. But it's still interesting. I would wager that if you asked a casual person off the street how fast the train was going when it wrecked, causing almost 600 casualties (dozens of fatalities), that person would give an answer significantly greater than 12 mph.

guilty as charged...after reading the headline i expected the train to be traveling at 30mph or more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ragingclue

I thought those were the details of the last bad Argentinian train crash...? Or did this one play out exactly as the old one did? I thought this new crash was just the train not stopping before hitting a wall or something.